The invention relates to a dispenser, that is a device for discharging an amount of a substance to be discharged, a cartridge for use in such a dispenser and a method for using such a dispenser. In particular, the invention relates to a portable dispenser to be operated manually by a user. In detail, the invention relates to both a dispenser as such and a dispenser interacting with a cartridge and supplemented by the cartridge, whereby the relevant dispenser and the relevant cartridge are interacting with each other. The substance to be discharged may, for instance, be a free-flowing material, granular material (grit) or a liquid. The substance to be discharged is preferably a spreadable foodstuff, in particular a condiment or salt.
In one embodiment the dispenser comprises a container comprising a discharge opening and a metering device that is mounted (or supported) movably relative to said discharge opening and that has at least one recess for conveying the substance to be discharged through the discharge opening and out of the container, said metering device being connected to a drive element, particularly to a spring element. The metering device thus serves to limit or measure the amount of substance discharged. The drive element may preferably be a spring element which is formed by a mechanical spring or a gas spring or a comparable elastic element.
In another embodiment the dispenser comprises a cartridge holder for holding a cartridge and a drive unit that is mounted movably relative to the cartridge holder, wherein a container comprising a discharge opening and the metering device that is mounted movably relative to the discharge opening and that has at least one recess for conveying the substance to be discharged through the discharge opening and out of the container is part of the cartridge to be received by the cartridge holder; that is the cartridge itself comprises a container having a discharge opening and a metering device that is mounted movably relative to said discharge opening and that has at least one recess for conveying the substance to be discharged through the discharge opening and out of the container.
A dispenser or portioning device according to the first mentioned embodiment is known from DE 20312737 U1 already. The spring element connected to the slider serves the return movement of the slide after ejection of the free-flowing material, whereby the metering device with the emptied metering chamber, which is formed by the slider, supported by the spring element, is pushed back into a receiving position against gravity in order to receive the free-flowing material from the supply chamber. Accordingly, upon actuation of the slider, the material received in the metering chamber is pushed against the restoring force of the spring through the spread opening.
The GB 1 133 137 A describes a similar dispenser comprising a spring which supports a retraction of a metering device, which is formed by a piston, into a receiving position in the dispenser.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,853 A discloses a dispenser comprising a spring, wherein the spring holds a piston in a position, in which the discharge opening is closed.
In connection with the device shown in the CH 153 431 A it is described that a lower portion retains an upper portion of a plunger with light compression of a spring. It directly follows from this that the spring effects a retraction of a metering device called plunger into the container.
In addition, the FR 712 916 A shows a caster, in which a plunger is held in a closed position by a spring, and thus ejection can take place only against the spring force.
Similar devices are further known from e.g. DE 9217208 U1 and DE 1651682 U.
A disadvantage of the known dispensers is that the direction and distribution of the substance to be discharged are not reproducible upon discharge or ejection. Thus, there may result strong fluctuations in terms of the concentration of the substance to be discharged on the target surface, which is undesirable in many applications, since it calls for a subsequent distribution or homogenisation. In some cases, such a subsequent distribution is not possible at all, so that the uneven concentration must be accepted. For example, in the case of an application as a salt cellar on solid or specifically formed foodstuffs, a uniform distribution would not be possible without fragmentation of the foodstuffs, so that a non-uniform salt concentration resulting in an unpleasant taste must be accepted.
The mentioned fluctuations of the concentration in particular result from the dependence of the direction and distribution of the substance to be discharged on the orientation of the dispenser and the gravity acting on the substance due to the discharge as well as on the variation of the force acting on the metering device due to—generally non-reproducible or badly reproducible—manual operation.
On the other hand, devices have been known already which allow a reproducible discharge of a substance in terms of direction and distribution. For example, the DE 2705297 A1 illustrates a snuff dispenser, in which a pinch can be flung upwards and out of the device by means of a spring force. However, the device does not comprise a metering device within the meaning of the present invention and a metering may at best take place manually by means of controlling the snuff freely trickling through an opening and out of the container. Accordingly, the spring force naturally cannot act on a metering device—which is not present. In this device, above all the reproducibility suffers from the non-reproducible amount of substance to be discharged. In addition, in this device the desired ejection only functions against gravity, that is with an opening aligned upwards, since otherwise the pinch would fall out of the discharge device prior to ejection.
Another snuff dispenser is known from DE 2926659 A1. In this dispenser a separate metering mechanism is provided, which is supposed to remove a defined amount from a container and prepare its ejection. Said device has the disadvantage that metering and ejection are separate and thus the device not only is more complicated in terms of production but also hardly offers any protection against excessively metering, upon ejection. In particular, an amount of substance which was not properly discharged previously may remain within the ejection mechanism, so that due to the functional separation of metering and ejection according to said metering mechanism, an accumulation and a corresponding excessive metering may occur upon ejection. Here, too, the ejection only functions against gravity.